prices

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of price.

   Housing prices in the region have doubled over the past decade.

   Shoppers compared prices across several websites before buying.

   Note

   The plural belongs to the money meaning of price: amounts asked or charged, counted one by one, as in rising prices or comparing prices across shops. The medical acronym PRICE, for treating a sprained joint, is uncountable and never takes this -s. The same spelling also serves the verb form, so a sentence can need a second look to tell whether prices is a thing or an action.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of price.

   The auctioneer prices rare books according to their condition.

   A good manager prices the menu to cover costs and stay competitive.

   Note

   The -s form used with he, she, it or any singular subject: the auctioneer prices the books. Its living meaning is fixing a value. The older senses of paying for something or prizing it are obsolete, and asking what something costs is dated. So in modern English she prices the jacket means she sets its cost, not that she inquires about it.

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